Madam Speaker, I was hoping, as the member for Calgary Midnapore began, that I could open by saying that she had me at hello. However, I am afraid the “show me the money” piece lost me on the pipeline question.
The member mentioned that $4.5 billion had been spent on a pipeline that was not built. Just to clarify, for all members, the government spent $4.5 billion on an existing 65-year-old pipeline. It did not create a single additional job. The members opposite, including the member for Calgary Midnapore, obviously want us to proceed with the completely irresponsible notion that we would spend $10 billion to $13 billion more of public money to build something that has no market, which is why Kinder Morgan left.
I would urge the member to reconsider. There are many more ways we could spend that money, including restoring the abandoned oil wells, converting them to geothermal, and doing things that would really help the economy of Alberta.